Harbin Mahjong (哈尔滨麻将), also known has Harbin Limiting Mahjong is a regional variation of Mahjong played primarily in the Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China. Known for its straightforward rules and fast-paced gameplay due to less tiles but also similar to Dalian Restricted Mahjong in the myriad of limitation.
Tiles to Play Harbin Mahjong With
Harbin Mahjong is played with only the suits tiles for a total of 112 tiles, drawn from the standard Mahjong tile sets. These include 36 tiles each from the Characters, Dots, and Bamboo suits, numbered 1 to 9, with four copies of each tile. Additionally, four Red Dragon (Hong Zhong - 红中) tiles are included, bringing the total to 112 tiles
Basic Rules of Harbin Mahjong
Every turn goes the same way:
- Draw a tile from the wall or by take the tile that somebody just discarded
- Try to make a winning hand! The goal is to arrange your tiles into four sets of three and one pair. If you can't, go to step 3.
- Discard a tile in the center of the table, officially ending your turn.
- Immediately after a tile is discarded, someone else can take it to form a meld or to complete their winning hand. If nobody takes the discarded tile, that tile is out of play for the rest of the game and the next player draws from the wall.
By default, the next player is the player to the right (counterclockwise). Even if it is not your turn yet, this is not a time to sit idle. Although the next person is the player to the right by default, there are certain circumstances that allow somebody to jump ahead to call a discarded tile. Also, even if you are unable to call the tile, it is important for you to know what is thrown and what is out of play, so that you are not waiting for it in vain later on.
How to Setup Harbin Mahjong
Like most variants of mahjong, Harbin mahjong is intended for four players. Rules and customs for dealing the tiles out vary from version to version and table to table.
Determining The Dealer
The next step is to determine the dealer. The dealer for the first round is determined randomly, often by rolling dice. For subsequent rounds, the dealer remains the same if they win or if the game ends in a draw, which is known as lian zhuang (连庄). However, if another player wins, the role of the dealer passes to them.
Setting Up The Wall
The next step is shuffling the tiles and building the wall. Players begin by thoroughly shuffling all 112 tiles face down on the table. Each player then builds a wall in front of themselves by stacking tiles into two rows of 14 stacks, with two tiles per stack, creating a total of 28 tiles per player. The walls are arranged into a square, enclosing the center area.
Breaking The Wall
Once the dealer has been selected, the dealer rolls the dice to determine the starting wall. Let’s say you are the dealer and you roll a seven.
Starting with your own wall, count the walls in front of each player, moving counterclockwise around the table: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. You should now be pointing at the wall of the player to your left.
The next step is to determine where to break the wall.
Use the same number from determining the starting wall. Starting on the end of the wall segment closest to you, count out seven tiles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Pick up that seventh tile (since you rolled a seven) because it counts from the indicated player's right to his left (not players but tiles this time) the total sum of the rolls. The tiles immediately after become the draw wall.
The wall is basically like a long deck of cards wrapping around the table in a square. The draw wall is like the top of the deck where the tiles will be dealt from and where the players will draw tiles from during gameplay.
Dealing The Hand
To deal the tiles in Harbin Mahjong, begin from the wall at the designated break point. The dealer starts by distributing tiles in a clockwise direction, with each player receiving a set of tiles in turns. Initially, players take two stacks (4 tiles) at a time, repeating this process until each player has 12 tiles. Then, the dealer takes an additional two tiles, one from the first stack and another from the third stack to complete their hand of 14 tiles, while the other players each take one additional tile to reach 13 tiles. The tiles are drawn in sequence from the wall, maintaining the order determined by the initial break point.
Getting a Tile
The main way to get a tile is to draw it from the draw wall.
You can also get a tile when somebody discards it if it completes a a valid combination of three or four tiles, also known as a meld, or for a winning hand.
The called tile must be displayed face up with the completed meld. This open meld cannot be altered for the rest of the game. The discarded tile must be called immediately or else the tile becomes dead and will remain in the discarded tile area for the rest of the game.
Calling Tiles
A pung is a three-of-a-kind.
If you need the discarded tile to complete a pung, you have to say “pung,” grab it, and display the completed pung face up next to your flowers. Pungs are powerful because you can seize it even if it isn’t your turn, and everyone before you will lose their turn.
A kong is a four-of-a-kind.
Kong is like a special type of pung, and can also be grabbed even if it’s not your turn. However, you have to also grab an extra tile from the wall. This is necessary for you to have enough tiles to complete a winning hand.
A chow is a three-tile straight of the same suit.
Unlike pung and kang, you can only chow when it’s your turn. This makes chows harder to get since you can only get it from the person right before you. Normally the only exception to this is if the chow would result in you winning.
In Harbin Limited Mahjong, you are allowed to all chow on ANY discarded tile from ANY player if it would complete a sequence in your if the Chow would result in a valid hand that is One Tile Away from winning. However if you choose to call Chow in this manner, you must also Declare Ready and from that point onward, you cannot change your hand in any way.
Generally you cannot claim a discarded tile to form a pair. The only exception is if you are waiting for one more tile to win. You might be waiting to complete a pung, a chow, or an eye in order to win. No matter what you’re waiting for, you can seize it if somebody discards it, anytime. Winning using a discarded tile is called mahjong or hu.
FAQ: What Happens If Two People Want to Call a Discarded Tile?
In general, priority is given based on what the tile is being called for: winning takes precedence over pungs/kongs. Also Chow use to declare ready, it takes precedence over pungs/kongs also. Then pungs /kongs takes precedence over chows noramlly. If more than one player needs the discarded tile for mahjong, it goes to whoever is closer in turn after the person who discarded the tile.
Arranging your Tiles
Remember, the goal of mahjong is to have all of your tiles arranged into four melds and one pair. After getting a tile, you should arrange your tiles and attempt to incorporate your new tile into your hand.
As discussed above, kong is a four-of-a-kind, which may be formed from a discarded tile. Related to kong is a concealed kong when you have four-of-a-kind that’s hidden in your own hand, which means that you drew it yourself and did not complete it using a discarded tile. In this case, because it’s concealed, the identity of the tile is valuable information and should not be displayed. But because it is a four-tile meld, you must declare it and get a tile from the wall. Turn the outside tiles facedown to mark it as a concealed kong. Just like with open meld, your secret tiles will be out of play the rest of the game with no changes permitted.
Another related concept is open melded kong. Open melded kongs are generally locked in and cannot be changed. If you created a pung from a discarded tile, and later on, somebody throws the fourth matching tile, you will not be able to kong the discarded tile, because your pung was already open. However, there is a special exception: if it’s your turn and the tile that you draw from the wall happens to be the fourth matching tile, then you can add it to your completed pung. Declare the open melded kong and set the matching tile on top of the middle tile of the pung. Since this is now a four-tile meld, you must draw a replacement tile from the wall.
Discarding a Tile
Prioritize discarding tiles that are unlikely to fit into multiple combinations, such as isolated middle tiles for example, a lone 5 in a suit with no adjacent numbers or redundant tiles that do not progress your hand.
Additionally, consider the discard pile to avoid giving your opponents tiles that might advance their hands.
Arranging your Called and Discard Tiles
Called tiles, such as those used to form Pung, Kong, or Chow melds, must be placed face-up in front or to the side of your hand. The arrangement depends on the type of meld.
Discards can be haphazardly thrown a pile in the center
Declaring a Ready Hand
Declaring Ready can occur a player is one tile away from winning with a valid hand, a Ready Hand (Ting Pai (听牌)). Unlike other variants of Mahjong like Riichi Mahjong, you do not have to have a fully concealed hand. In Harbin Limiting Mahjong, you can Declare Ready in one of two ways, (1) a player will simply announce "Ready" on their turn and discard a tile or (2) you can call a chow for a sequence on ANY discarded tile if ANY player if the Chow would result in a valid hand that is One Tile Away from winning. However if you choose to call Chow in this manner, you must also Declare Ready and from that point onward, you cannot change your hand in any way. From this point onward the player is essentially playing on autopilot, and they cannot change their hand in any way.
The player picks up a tile on their turn, and if it is not his winning tile, they must discard it. The only exception to this is that the player can turn any closed triplet into a closed quad (kong), providing it does not change the validity of their hand.
Also unlike Riichi Mahjong, a player who has Declared Ready can call Hu or Mahjong whenever they please instead of on their first possible opportunity. The player can wait for their winning tiles to be discarded by specific players even if they have already been discarded by somebody else.
The benefit of declaring ready is the activation of the Treasure Tile.
Treasure Tiles (Bǎo Pái (宝牌))
The Treasure Tile is a unique feature in Harbin Limiting Mahjong that adds an element of excitement to the game. The Treasure Tile acts as a wild card if drawn for Ready Players Only.
Revealing Treasure Tiles
When a player declares Ready (Ting), they roll the dice to determine the Treasure Tile's location within the wall. The selected tile is revealed but kept secret from players who have not declared Ready (Ting).
Declaring a Ready Hand
A player can declare a Ready Hand (Tīng Pái (听牌)) whenever any one legal tile can complete a valid hand following all restrictions and must include: (1) one sequence, (2) one triplet, (3) at least two suits, (4) at least one terminal tile, (5) be an open hand, and (6) retain at least four tiles in hand.
Once a player declares Ready (Tīng Pái (听牌)), they can no longer change there hand. They must discard any tiles drawn unless it is their winning tile.
Revealing the Treasure Tile
Once a player declares a Ready Hand following all restrictions, the Treasure Tile Indicator is chosen by rolling dice and counting tile columns starting from the back of the remaining wall and take the top tile as the Treasure Tile Indicator. If there are less tile columns than the rolled value, roll again until you can reveal a Treasure Tile Indicator. The Ready player will take the tile and look at it, and If the Ready player can "Rush for Treasure" (win with the tile), reveal it. Otherwise, place it facedown to the side. If any point, the Ready player can win on a drawn or discarded Treasure Tile, reveal the Treasure Tile indicator.
If other players declare Ready, allow the other Ready players to secretly look at the Treasure Tile indicator and return it face down. The other Ready player will take the tile and look at it, and If the Ready player can "Rush for Treasure" (win with the tile), reveal it. Otherwise, place it facedown to the side. If any point, the other Ready player can win on a drawn or discarded Treasure Tile, reveal the Treasure Tile indicator.
The sequential counterpart of the Treasure Tile (based on suit, Dragon, or Wind order) become the Treasure Tile for that round. The Treasure Tile is indicated by treasure indicator tile which will mark the next tile in the suit as the Treasure Tile. For example, if the face up tile is 3 Bamboo, then 3 and 4 Bamboo are the Wild Card tiles. A 9 tile indicates the 1 tile of the same suit, so 9 Dots would indicate 1 Dot as the Wild Card. Winds are East, then South, then West, then North, and back to East while the Dragons are coincidentally in alphabetical order of Green, then Red, then White, and then back to Green.
Note: You cannot reveal a Treasure Tile if there are 4 or less tiles left.
Running Out of Treasure
When 3 Treasure Tiles (Not Treasure Tile Indicators) are visible in the discard pile and/or melded tiles, the first Ready Player can roll the dice again to determine a new Treasure Tile. If there are less tile columns than the rolled value, roll again until you can reveal a Treasure Tile Indicator.
Winning in Harbin Mahjong
Winning in Harbin Mahjong, also referred to as Hu (和), involves arranging your hand into a valid winning combination that adheres to the game’s rules. A winning hand typically consists of four melds (Chow, Pung, or Kong) and *one pair(Eye), though specific conditions and restrictions apply to Harbin Mahjong.
Only one player can win and if multiple players can win on a single discarded tile, the player closest to the discarder in counterclockwise order has priority.
Requirements for a Winning Hand
- Must Declare Ready (必须听牌, Bì Xū Tīng Pái):
- The player must declare ready (听牌) before they are eligible to win. Declaring ready means the player signals that their hand is one tile away from completion and commits to winning only with tiles that complete their hand.
- One Sequence Set (顺子, Shùn Zi):
- The hand must include at least one sequence (three consecutive tiles of the same suit). This sequence can be part of any suit (e.g., 123 of Dots, 456 of Bamboo). Sequences cannot be substituted with other melds like triplets (刻子) or kongs (杠子).
- Triplet Set (刻子, Kè Zi):
- The hand must include at least one set of triplets (three identical tiles). A kong (杠子) can substitute for a meld.
- Two Suits Requirement (两门齐, Liǎng Mén Qí):
- The must feature tiles from at least two different suits (The Red Dragon does not count as a suit).
- Terminal Tiles (幺九, Yāo Jiǔ):
- The hand must include at least one terminal tile (1 or 9). Red Dragon tiles can count as terminals.
-
Opened Hand (开门, Kāi Mén):
- Players must have declared a chow (吃), pong (碰), or exposed kong (明杠).
- No Single Tile Remaining (手把一, Shǒu Bǎ Yī):
- Players must retain at least four tiles in hand.
Points and Payout in Harbin Mahjong
Scoring in Harbin Mahjong revolves around earning points (or fans - 番) based on the winning hand and specific circumstances of the win. The payout is determined by the points earned, with additional multipliers applied for Middle Tile Waits.
Who Pays?
|
Win Type |
Who Pays? |
|
Self-Draw Wins |
All three opponents pay the calculated points. |
|
Win from a discard |
Only the discarding player pays the full amount. |
*In Harbin Limited Mahjong, Robbing a Kong (Winning by claiming a tile that another player was about to use to form a kong) is counts as a self-draw win.
Initial Points
Decide in advance how long you’ll play for and what “rate” you’ll use. If you plan to play for several hours, you might, for instance, reshuffle seating every hour or so. Also agree on how many “points” each player starts with—represented by chips or some other marker.
Common values are 50 points or 100 points, however you can go as high as you like. These points serve as a baseline for calculating wins and losses.
Winning Hand Payout Formula
The payout in Harbin Limiting Mahjong is relatively simplified. The formula to calculate points is as follows:
Total Payout = Points From Hand x (Middle Wait Multiplier If Applicable)
Point Value Table for Harbin Mahjong
| Hand | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Hand (平胡, Píng Hú) | 1 Fan | Winning on a hand following restrictions claimed from a discarded tile |
| Self-Draw (自摸, Zì Mō) | 2 Fans | Winning on a hand following restrictions by drawing the final tile yourself. |
| Treasure Win (摸宝, Mō Bǎo) | 3 Fans | Winning on a hand following restrictions by drawing the Treasure Tile as your final tile. |
| Discarder Not Ready (出冲, Chū Chōng) | 3 Fans | Discarder has not declared ready when they discard the winning tile (Does not stack with Standard Hand) |
| Clamp Win (卡当, Kǎ Dāng) | ×2 Multiplier | Winning on a middle wait (e.g., waiting for the middle tile to complete a sequence). |
| Treasure Within Treasure Win (宝中宝, Bǎo Zhōng Bǎo) | 12 Fans | Winning on a hand following restrictions by drawing the Treasure Tile as your final AND the Treasure Tile's face value matches the tile you need to win. |
